We had been warned several times by locals of the dangers of the road to Lahore from Quetta, so with the police reluctantly agreeing, we changed our course, to travel south and then follow the Indian boarder up to Lahore which was a route less trodden and much safer, but a lot longer.
So the next few days were fairly uneventful, stopping in places called Sukkur and Multan overnight. Other than stopping in this little village in the middle of nowhere. We stopped on a toilet break and were greeted by a wall of about 100 people, not uttering a word, just staring at us. So we went and had a laboured chat. The police told us after that these people had never actually seen white people before, only in pictures, so they were all very interested to meet us. They did seem very nice but soon we were on our way again. And it was the same old story and we were secured inside the hotel under armed guard and obstructed not to leave. This was starting to get a bit tedious now so the some of the group tried to make a sneaky escape but our attempts were thwarted.
In other news, it was now a lot cooler dipping to high forties and our Welsh biker Ben that had been hijacking our convoy departed us in Multan.
So another drive day, Lahore bound! As we left Multan, the police hadn't organised their convoy at for the pre-agreed time so we left without them and they didn't bother to catch us up! So we had a free ride to Lahore, making as many toilet and drink stops as we liked!
As we had a delay back in our posh hotel in Quetta, it had eaten into our time in Lahore to it meant we only had one afternoon and evening. And with no police, we could go and explore!
Despite monsoon rain cutting through the rising humidity, we took our life into our hands as we ventured on tuktuk through the city traffic. A chaotic lawlessness ensued and we tried to squeeze through impossible gaps and avoid swerving others whilst an unrelenting barrage of horns and sirens blared.
We visited the old fort and mosque that dominate Lahore's skyline. We ate delicious samosas and ran away from hungry rats. We watched cricket and were treated as celebrities. Turns out that in Lahore, there aren't many white people either, especially ones silly enough to venture out in the heavy rain showers. We were pestered by people wanting to say hello, shake our hands, take pictures of us, have their photo taken with us, have their photo taken by us or just stop and stare at us. Whatever their reaction, most of it was harmless enough but we have both decided against become A-list celebrities.
Before we left, a couple at Gill's parents church in NI said they were going to be in Lahore some point in August to start their 6 months lecturing maths at a Christian College. So with their address scribbled on a scrap of paper and no idea where it was in the city or even if they had even arrived yet, we blindly got in another tuktuk and ventured into the unknown. Turns out, that is was about 8kms out of the city and took about 30 mins constant driving from our hotel. Problem was, our driver and most other people he found, had no clue where it was. Our driver spoken little English and at one point just handed us a phone and we were asked by a crackly voice on the other end where we were actually going. This was about 20 minutes into the journey.
After more garbled directions from other drivers and a helpful local hitch hiker, we made it to the complex, well after nightfall. We were greeted by a team of security asking us lots of questions, to most of which we had no answers. We didn't know exactly where they lived in the complex, their phone number or if they were even in the country. All we really knew was that they weren't expecting us. Good.
Eventually we made it to their house. We saw them, said our hellos and then paid and thanked our tuktuk driver and said goodbye to him. Only he didn't leave! He decided that after coming all this way he was definitely going to be the one to take us back aga so in he promptly came in and sat down on the sofa. So all of has had tea and toast and then we caught up with Ron and Hillary while the driver phoned his friends and slept on the sofa. After a lovely evening, we woke our chauffeur up and headed back, a much more direct route, to our fairly grim hostel.
Lahore is actually a pretty cool place. A chaotic metropolis that is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. And most Pakistanis and very friendly too. Just try to make sure that all the embassies aren't evacuated the day before you arrive, tends to make you a little nervy.
Anyway, off to India - we made it!!
So the next few days were fairly uneventful, stopping in places called Sukkur and Multan overnight. Other than stopping in this little village in the middle of nowhere. We stopped on a toilet break and were greeted by a wall of about 100 people, not uttering a word, just staring at us. So we went and had a laboured chat. The police told us after that these people had never actually seen white people before, only in pictures, so they were all very interested to meet us. They did seem very nice but soon we were on our way again. And it was the same old story and we were secured inside the hotel under armed guard and obstructed not to leave. This was starting to get a bit tedious now so the some of the group tried to make a sneaky escape but our attempts were thwarted.
In other news, it was now a lot cooler dipping to high forties and our Welsh biker Ben that had been hijacking our convoy departed us in Multan.
So another drive day, Lahore bound! As we left Multan, the police hadn't organised their convoy at for the pre-agreed time so we left without them and they didn't bother to catch us up! So we had a free ride to Lahore, making as many toilet and drink stops as we liked!
As we had a delay back in our posh hotel in Quetta, it had eaten into our time in Lahore to it meant we only had one afternoon and evening. And with no police, we could go and explore!
Despite monsoon rain cutting through the rising humidity, we took our life into our hands as we ventured on tuktuk through the city traffic. A chaotic lawlessness ensued and we tried to squeeze through impossible gaps and avoid swerving others whilst an unrelenting barrage of horns and sirens blared.
We visited the old fort and mosque that dominate Lahore's skyline. We ate delicious samosas and ran away from hungry rats. We watched cricket and were treated as celebrities. Turns out that in Lahore, there aren't many white people either, especially ones silly enough to venture out in the heavy rain showers. We were pestered by people wanting to say hello, shake our hands, take pictures of us, have their photo taken with us, have their photo taken by us or just stop and stare at us. Whatever their reaction, most of it was harmless enough but we have both decided against become A-list celebrities.
Before we left, a couple at Gill's parents church in NI said they were going to be in Lahore some point in August to start their 6 months lecturing maths at a Christian College. So with their address scribbled on a scrap of paper and no idea where it was in the city or even if they had even arrived yet, we blindly got in another tuktuk and ventured into the unknown. Turns out, that is was about 8kms out of the city and took about 30 mins constant driving from our hotel. Problem was, our driver and most other people he found, had no clue where it was. Our driver spoken little English and at one point just handed us a phone and we were asked by a crackly voice on the other end where we were actually going. This was about 20 minutes into the journey.
After more garbled directions from other drivers and a helpful local hitch hiker, we made it to the complex, well after nightfall. We were greeted by a team of security asking us lots of questions, to most of which we had no answers. We didn't know exactly where they lived in the complex, their phone number or if they were even in the country. All we really knew was that they weren't expecting us. Good.
Eventually we made it to their house. We saw them, said our hellos and then paid and thanked our tuktuk driver and said goodbye to him. Only he didn't leave! He decided that after coming all this way he was definitely going to be the one to take us back aga so in he promptly came in and sat down on the sofa. So all of has had tea and toast and then we caught up with Ron and Hillary while the driver phoned his friends and slept on the sofa. After a lovely evening, we woke our chauffeur up and headed back, a much more direct route, to our fairly grim hostel.
I know, I cut the top of my head off...
Lahore is actually a pretty cool place. A chaotic metropolis that is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. And most Pakistanis and very friendly too. Just try to make sure that all the embassies aren't evacuated the day before you arrive, tends to make you a little nervy.
Anyway, off to India - we made it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment